How 4 teens from Southern California are helping kids with problems from homelessness to bullying

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Dillon Eisman shows off used clothing he’s upcycled for his project, Sew Swag, Inc. at his home in Malibu, CA, on Thursday, June 28, 2018. Eisman is among 15 teens nationwide who have been awarded $36,000 each as recipients of the 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards in recognition of their commitment to social good and volunteer service. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The boy who taught himself how to sew in order to give homeless youth better-looking clothes to wear.

The pint-sized girl, bullied mercilessly in seventh and eighth grades, who then later created an app so kids can find someone to eat lunch with at school.

A Girl Scout who loved her time at camp in the San Jacinto Mountains so much, she created a summer day camp for underprivileged children.

And the artist whose Bat Mitzvah project blossomed into an ongoing series of art lessons for kids living in shelters.

All four teens grew up in Southern California and are among a group of 15 from around the country to be awarded $36,000 each as 2018 recipients of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. They can use the money to pay for college or their work to make the world a better place.

Each is determined to inspire and train other youth to carry on the work they’ve started.

Dillon Eisman fixes used clothing for his project, Sew Swag, Inc. at his home in Malibu, CA, on Thursday, June 28, 2018. Eisman is among 15 teens nationwide who have been awarded $36,000 each as recipients of the 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards in recognition of their commitment to social good and volunteer service. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Dillon Eisman shows off used clothing he’s upcycled for his project, Sew Swag, Inc. at his home in Malibu, CA, on Thursday, June 28, 2018. Eisman is among 15 teens nationwide who have been awarded $36,000 each as recipients of the 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards in recognition of their commitment to social good and volunteer service. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Dillon Eisman shows off used clothing he’s upcycled for his project, Sew Swag, Inc. at his home in Malibu, CA, on Thursday, June 28, 2018. Eisman is among 15 teens nationwide who have been awarded $36,000 each as recipients of the 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards in recognition of their commitment to social good and volunteer service. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Dillon Eisman keeps a list of homeless people’s clothing preferences and sizes as part of his project, Sew Swag, Inc. at his home in Malibu, CA, on Thursday, June 28, 2018. Eisman is among 15 teens nationwide who have been awarded $36,000 each as recipients of the 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards in recognition of their commitment to social good and volunteer service. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Kids listen to a dog’s heartbeat during a Camps to Explore and Empower session at the Orange County Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope. The summer camp was created by Madeline Salvatierra of North Tustin for her Girl Scout Gold Award. Her social action also earned her a $36,000 award as a 2018 recipient of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. (Photo courtesy of Madeline Salvatierra)

A boy attending a Camps to Explore and Empower session at the Orange County Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope shows what he’d like to be when he grows up. The summer camp was created by Madeline Salvatierra of North Tustin for her Girl Scout Gold Award. Her social action also earned her a $36,000 award as a 2018 recipient of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. (Photo courtesy of Madeline Salvatierra)

A child works on a detailed plan for a house during a Camps to Explore and Empower session at the Orange County Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope. The summer camp was created by Madeline Salvatierra of North Tustin for her Girl Scout Gold Award. Her social action also earned her a $36,000 award as a 2018 recipient of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. (Photo courtesy of Madeline Salvatierra)

Madeline Salvatierra of North Tustin created Camps to Explore and Empower, a summer camp and after-school program for underprivileged children. Camps have been held at the Orange County Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope the past few summers. The project earned Salvatierra her Girl Scout Gold Award and a $36,000 scholarship as a 2018 recipient of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. (Photo courtesy of Madeline Salvatierra)

Emilia Peters, left, and Kyra Kraft show some of the artwork created during one of the art lessons they have given to children living in shelters in the Los Angeles area. Their KEM Creative initiative started as a Bat Mitzvah project in 2014 and continued. Because of her outreach, Peters will receive $36,000 as a 2018 winner of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. (Photo courtesy of Emilia Peters)

Emilia Peters of Silver Lake began giving art lessons to children in homeless shelters as a Bat Mitzvah project with her friend Kyra Kraft. The lessons have continued since 2014, reaching more than 500 children in five Los Angeles area facilities. Because of her outreach, Peters will receive $36,000 as a 2018 winner of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. (Photo courtesy of Emilia Peters)

Natalie Hampton of Sherman Oaks created the Sit With Us app in 2016 to counter bullying and shunning on school campuses. The app has more than 100,000 users. Hampton, who was once the target of bullies, gave a TedX Teen London talk in 2017 titled “All It Takes is One” to show how a small act of kindness can change a person’s life. She is a 2018 recipient of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. (Photo courtesy of Kiran Bhamra Cox and Natalie Hampton)

Natalie Hampton’s Sit With Us app is free to use and helps schoolchildren (and others) who have nobody to each lunch with connect. Hampton created the app after experiencing relentess bullying in middle school.

Natalie Hampton of Sherman Oaks created the Sit With Us app in 2016 to counter bullying and shunning on school campuses. The app has more than 100,000 users. Hampton, who was once the target of bullies, will put her $36,000 award as a 2018 recipient of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards toward her education at Stanford University. She will study psychology as a pre-med student. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Hampton)

The Diller Teen award dates back to 2007, an annual recognition sponsored by the Helen Diller Family Foundation to honor the leadership and social outreach of Jewish teens. The Hebrew phrase “tikkun olam” translates to “repairing the world.”

Since the award’s inception, recipients have included young people from the local area. Who are they this year?

Off the rack

The ugly dress with the dull beige top and metallic-embroidered bottom likely would have never been plucked from the thrift store rack where it hung until Dillon Eisman spotted it and took it home.

Dillon Eisman shows off used clothing he’s upcycled for his project, Sew Swag, Inc. at his home in Malibu, CA, on Thursday, June 28, 2018. Eisman is among 15 teens nationwide who have been awarded $36,000 each as recipients of the 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards in recognition of their commitment to social good and volunteer service. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

He saw the same thing in that dress that he sees in the young homeless people for whom he refashions such discarded or damaged pieces of clothing: potential. Lots of it.

Eisman took the dress, cut off its bottom half, used a special dye that he knew wouldn’t discolor the embroidery to turn the fabric a perkier pink, added a tulle underlining, and turned it into a trendy short skirt.

From the time he was 14, the Malibu teen has done the same “upcycling” makeover for hundreds of clothing items that he gives to older teens and young adults living in shelters or on the streets through his onprofit organization Sew Swag.

Now, college-bound to study business at Washington University in St. Louis after graduating from Malibu High, Eisman, 18, wants to develop workshops so other teens can carry on his work in the Los Angeles area. He plans to establish a similar outreach when he gets to Missouri. He has a full-ride scholarship so he’ll use his Diller award to support Sew Swag.

Sew Swag grew out of a tour Eisman took of the Los Angeles LGBTQ Center in Hollywood after launching the gay-straight alliance on his high school campus in 2014 as a freshman.

He was shocked to learn that kids his age were on their own and homeless. Noticing their shabby clothes, Eisman later thought of how good he feels wearing the outfits he picks out in the morning for school — like many teens.

“The fact that these kids don’t have that simple pleasure upset me,” he recalled.

That’s when Sew Swag was launched with the help of YouTube, his mom’s old clothes and a barely-used Singer sewing machine buried in a dusty cabinet.

Eisman, who had never sewn before, practiced embellishment and refashioning techniques by watching videos. He ended up with a lot of scraps at first, but eventually had a few dozen trendy dresses, blouses and jackets to take to young women at the shelter.

“One of them said they hadn’t had a jacket in like six months. It’s not something you think about, someone my own age who is freezing at night because they don’t have a jacket,” he said. “It was heartbreaking.”

Inspired to help, Eisman incorporated Sew Swag in September of 2014 with the help of his dad, a lawyer. He began scouring thrift stores and asking for donations of used clothing items to upcycle, with the help of his mom.

He also contacted some 50 clothing companies in search of partners — making cold calls, leaving messages, sending emails. About half responded, often with a harsh and rude rejection, he says.

One fast-fashion company even told him they burn their unsold clothing to protect their brand and assets.

“I just couldn’t even understand that. It’s not like what I am doing is impacting their profit.”

He has successfully partnered with Abercrombie & Fitch, which sends him new clothing he doesn’t alter. Brandy Melville, whose “one size fits most” brand is popular with teenage girls, also donates clothes that might have minor defects.

Sew Swag officially became a 501 (3) C nonprofit last year. Eisman distributes clothes at eight homeless shelters in the Los Angeles area and also out on the streets.

He routinely follows the route of a mobile shower service to provide fresh apparel to its clients. Someday, he’d like to retrofit a trailer and do his own pop-up operation.

He also keeps a log of the people he’s given clothes to — their sizes and style preferences. That way, Eisman says, “it feels like you’re their own personal designer.”

Camp with a purpose

Madeline Salvatierra, a graduate of Foothill High, is being recognized for the summer program she created for under-served children, Camps to Explore and Empower. She lives in North Tustin.

A boy attending a Camps to Explore and Empower session at the Orange County Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope shows what he’d like to be when he grows up. The summer camp was created by Madeline Salvatierra of North Tustin for her Girl Scout Gold Award. Her social action also earned her a $36,000 award as a 2018 recipient of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. (Photo courtesy of Madeline Salvatierra)

She’s held week-long day camps for children living at the Orange County Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope in Tustin every summer since 2016, incorporating fun activities to get children interested in such career fields as medicine, science, and technology.

Two different speakers visit each day, but not to just stand there and talk. A Superior Court judge let the kids try on her robe; a veterinarian had them listen to a dog’s heartbeat with her stethoscope; and Van Partible, creator of the “Johnny Bravo” animated TV show, taught them how to make flip books.

Salvatierra, now 18, attended summer camp with the Girl Scouts since fourth grade, learning to be independent, outgoing and more confident.

“I wanted to bring summer camp especially to kids who don’t normally get that opportunity,” she said.

She developed the idea to earn her scouting Gold Award, the highest achievement possible from Girl Scouts of the USA.

Salvatierra’s connection to the Rescue Mission — whose Village of Hope program includes campus-style housing and other services to help people rebuild their lives — grew out of her work as an “Assisteen” volunteer with the Assistance League of Tustin.

Salvatierra was pretty much on her own that first year organizing the camp — purchasing supplies, developing activities, and recruiting 10 speakers to come in and engage the children in activities related to their careers. With 30 kids to manage, from kindergarten to seventh grade, she got help running the camp from another Assisteen.

Salvatierra is headed to Arizona State University where she is looking at studying finance or supply chain management. She’ll use her Diller award for college expenses.

Since she’s working this summer, she has mentored other teen volunteers — two girls and two boys — to run the camp. With a 150-page guidebook she created, Salvatierra has set up the groundwork for other Assisteens to keep the Rescue Mission camp going.

“I love this project and I’m so passionate about it. But I’m graduating. So I have to pass it on.”

Art, not arts and crafts

At 17, Emilia Peters still has her senior year of high school to finish at the privately-run Sequoyah School in Pasadena.

Emilia Peters, left, and Kyra Kraft show some of the artwork created during one of the art lessons they have given to children living in shelters in the Los Angeles area. Their KEM Creative initiative started as a Bat Mitzvah project in 2014 and continued. Because of her outreach, Peters will receive $36,000 as a 2018 winner of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. (Photo courtesy of Emilia Peters)

So she plans to invest the entirety of her Diller award in supporting and expanding the free art classes she and her project partner Kyra Kraft, also 17, started holding in 2014 for children living in Los Angeles-area shelters for homeless families. She lives in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles.

The co-founders of KEM Creative don’t settle for the typical arts and crafts sessions featuring markers and crayons; they bring professional quality materials such as acrylic paint and charcoal sticks and teach techniques that include shading, perspective, tinting.

For Peters, art has always been a refuge: “I cant even describe it. When I create art it feels like I’m escaping to a different world. All the stress of daily life is stripped away.”

She started hanging out at the art table in kindergarten, progressed from drawing to painting, and now has branched out into film making.

Peters met Kraft for the first time when their parents thought they could team up for their Mitzvah project, a social action endeavor that Jewish girls undertake at the age of 12 and boys at 13 as part of their faith’s coming-of-age ritual that signifies accountability.

They first brought their art workshop to LA Family Housing, a transitional shelter for homeless families in Los Angeles. Peters says they thought that would be the only lesson. But since then, the program has reached more than 500 students at five facilities around Los Angeles.

Last year they taught art lessons at two schools in Guatemala through an international exchange program.

“We wanted to provide some support and give these kids some attention through art. We never expected it to continue and develop and expand over the past four years.”

To keep the program going, Peters and Kraft have trained other teenage Art Ambassadors and attracted more than 40 volunteers. Peters says she will use her Diller award to help sustain and expand the program — supplies for 100 hours of art classes can run an estimated $3,000 to $5,000. They’ve received past grants from other foundations.

Peters has learned this from her experience with KEM Creative: “If you are creating something that is going to improve the community, people will be more than willing to help you and support you.”

An anti-bullying app

Back in seventh grade, Natalie Hampton was tiny — all of 4 feet tall. And really shy. When she began attending a new school — her mother’s alma mater — she arrived with no built-in group of friends.

It all combined to make her a target for bullies.

Nobody at the all-girl private campus offered to become her friend. Ostracized by her classmates, she ate lunch alone for two years. She endured bullying that included being shoved into lockers, knocked to the ground, scratched and punched, and threatened in science class by a classmate wielding a pair of scissors.

Hampton, who lives in Sherman Oaks, left that school for a completely different experience the next four years at another private campus, The Oakwood School in North Hollywood. There, she found kindness. Her first day on, she had friends to sit with at lunch.

But she still suffered the effects of having been bullied — panic attacks and other health issues. She wanted to recover her self esteem and do something for those kids who were still being bullied.

“I needed to have a positive end to this story because every time I thought about it I would end up crying.”

Natalie Hampton’s Sit With Us app is free to use and helps schoolchildren (and others) who have nobody to each lunch with connect. Hampton created the app after experiencing relentess bullying in middle school.

So, in September 2016 Hampton released a free app she developed to promote inclusion.

Called Sit With Us, it allows students to privately connect so they can eat lunch together and create invitations for others to join them.

Hampton confesses that she really didn’t expect anyone to use it. Then a story in a small local paper that week got picked up by an NPR station. The app since has grown to more than 100,000 users in eight countries.

Hampton also launched a Sit With Us club at her school. With campus visits and instructional materials, she has assisted other teens in starting campus clubs.

At schools where cellphones aren’t allowed, there’s an analog version of the app: note cards posted on a bulletin board.

Sit With Us is being used by schoolchildren, college students, and even adults in their workplaces. Hampton did a TedxTeen talk last year, “All It Takes is One.”

Hampton, 17 — and now 5’4″ tall — is headed for Stanford University to study psychology. She’ll put her Diller award toward her education. She’ll be a pre-med student and wants to study the causes of bullying to incorporate what she learns into the practice of medicine.

Her outreach has been featured in multiple print and online publications around the world. She hears from many other young people who have been bullied.

“It helps me feel less alone. I’ve heard from others who have been helped by Sit With Us. It’s so, so rewarding and helps me in ways I couldn’t even begin to explain.”

Theresa Walker is a Southern California native who has been a staff writer at The Orange County Register since 1992. She specializes in human interest stories and social issues, such as homelessness. She also covers nonprofits and philanthropy in Orange County. She loves telling stories about ordinary people who do the extraordinary in their communities.